Playing Catch-Up

I know, I know, I'm way behind on our blog! Don't worry, Barrett, I'll have a Christmas pic and blog background up soon! ;-) Seems like I've barely been able to keep my head above water, and unfortunately things much more significant than this blog have been neglected, too! I've got a huge pile of mail to sort through and over 100 unopened e-mails! The trial consumed one week, and then we had company for the second week. Throw some sickness in there, and now I'm ready to get caught up on life! Warning: this may be a bit lengthy!
My Mom flew in from Idaho for our trial because she had to testify, but then she was also a huge help on the other days with babysitting! Brian and I were able to drop the kids off at school on their various days, but then we were at the trial all day and into the evening, often only seeing our kids for a short time before bedtime. It was a very draining week, just having to re-live all the details of the accident, plus re-hashing the nitty gritty of how our life is currently. ANYWAY, it is all over and we are very pleased with the jury's verdict and are just relieved that it's over. It's not like we're going to be buying yachts and traveling the world because most of the money is already "spoken for" (allotted for future surgeries, housecleaning, childcare, past medical bills, etc.) but it is a huge mental relief to know that those items, which are a part of our life now through no fault of our own, will be taken care of financially. But I digress, I wanted to tell you about this picture above of Dawson and my Mom! I had baked a cake and was letting the kids lick the beaters, bowl, etc. Well, Dawson came in the kitchen and it was about all we could do to get him to taste the batter! However, once he did, there was no taking it away from him! There wasn't a speck of batter left on that spatula, but he would not let Mom remove it! We were laughing hysterically!

Last Tuesday Owen came walking out of school in this Indian costume and a papier-mache turkey with his face on it----adorable!

Thanksgiving Day was spent at our good friends (& neighbors) house, the Fowlers. We've done this before with them, and it's a great way to split all the cooking work, and spend the day with friends! Kelly had made cupcakes for the kids to decorate. Here are Colby and Kellen working on their masterpieces.

It was a beautiful day, so here are all three Fowler kids and our three oldest jumping on their trampoline.

Cade, Colby & Kellen also had fun playing in the blue sand!

My niece, Shawna, came in from Nashville to spend Wed.-Sat. with us. Here she is chatting with Gram!

After the big meal, Jamele, Cade and Robby enjoyed some football, while Kelly went through the Black Friday sales ads!

Here are all the kids, minus Dawson, enjoying their dessert!

On Shawna's last day with us, we celebrated her birthday a little early! She will be 28 on Dec. 4th. We were going to fix a nice dinner, but by this point, Brian, my Mom and Dawson had all gotten the stomach flu, so we settled for Thanksgiving leftovers. I did, however, make a Boston Cream Pie. I had asked Shawna's sister, Erica, a few weeks back about her favorite dessert, so we made it for her, put up a Happy Birthday sign on the mantle, and the kids all made a bunch of cards. Happy Birthday, Shawna!

Peyton, Shawna, Kellen & Owen hanging out on her last night with us.

My Mom had brought a CD of the Chicken Dance to teach the kids. Here is Shawna, Peyton, Dawson and Kellen doing the Chicken Dance! Mom was in there, too, but I didn't get any pics of her----Brian did get some video, though, which is great!

Right before it was time for Shawna to leave, and the rest of us to take my Mom to the Little Rock airport, we took one more group pic. Mom, Dawson, Peyton, Shawna, Kellen & Owen. We love you and miss you both!!!